2021 Women's Fund of SOuthwest Iowa
Fall grants recipients

Women’s Fund of Southwest Iowa Awards $57,250 to Six Nonprofits in Largest Grant Cycle

Pottawattamie County Community Foundation announced today that the Women’s Fund of Southwest Iowa, an initiative of the Foundation, has awarded $57,250 in funding to six organizations during its latest-and-largest grant cycle.

Grants to Applied Information Management Institute (AIM), FAMILY, Inc., Mills County Public Health, Neola Betterment Corporation, Project Pink’d, Inc., and Senior Futures, Inc. will support programming and projects that are focused on improving the quality of life and well-being of women and families in southwest Iowa.

“Over the last year, the Women’s Fund has begun a wave of solutions-based impact because of the generosity of our community,” said Donna Dostal, president and CEO of Pottawattamie County Community Foundation. “We know that when we invest in the success and well-being of women in our communities, the benefits and outcomes have a positive effect throughout our region. During this funding cycle, we are pleased and excited to work with a dynamic group of nonprofit partners as they provide real solutions to create durable positive movement toward helping women and families throughout southwest Iowa.”

Applied Information Management (AIM) was awarded $13,750 to help recruit and support women in their Southwest Iowa Tech Training Initiative, a program designed to help participants learn the technical foundation needed to gain access to the metro-area’s fastest-growing H3 (high-demand, high-skill, and high-wage) technology careers. The Southwest Iowa Tech Training Initiative annually serves over 100 individuals residing in the following Iowa counties: Pottawattamie, Mills, Montgomery, and/or Harrison County.

“We are grateful to have the commitment and support of the Women’s Fund of Southwest Iowa,” said Kandace Miller, president and CEO of AIM. “This funding will allow us to expand the reach of our Southwest Iowa Tech Training Initiative to area schools and do a women-focused recruiting campaign. Through the Southwest Iowa Tech Training Initiative, we will help address the need for more tech professionals in the Southwest Iowa region. By connecting interested parties to a comprehensive training program that aims to connect, develop and transition local talent to resources, mentors, and opportunities in technology, we will create new tech workers that will help the Southwest Iowa area thrive.”

FAMILY, Inc. was awarded $10,000 to support their Maternal Health Program, a program that provides nursing education and psychosocial support to pregnant women in Pottawattamie and Mills Counties who are on Medicaid through six weeks postpartum. The Maternal Health Program’s explicit goal is to make sure more babies can celebrate their first birthday (prevent infant mortality) and improve birth outcomes, and accomplished through family centered, community-based services.

By supporting the Maternal Health program through FAMILY, Inc., the Women’s Fund of Southwest Iowa made potentially life-saving resources available to women at one of the most beautiful, and yet challenging, moments in their lives,” said Kimberly Kolakowski, executive director of FAMILY, Inc. “The personalized, in-home nursing and social work services provided through this funding will help women through their pregnancy and up to six weeks post-partum with the supports they need to keep themselves, and their child, healthy. We know well that a healthy and whole parent dramatically increases their child’s chances for success in the future. We are honored to partner with the Women’s Fund of Southwest Iowa in making that happen!”

Neola Betterment Corporation received $10,000 to support First Street Cottages, an affordable and safe senior-friendly housing development in Neola, Iowa. Grant funding from PCCF will help subsidize the program cost of assisting senior citizens as they age-in-place with safe, senior-friendly housing and access to supportive services.

Project Pink’d was awarded $5,000 to support Healing Heart Survivor Kits. Developed for breast cancer survivors by Project Pink’d survivors, the Healing Hearts program provides kits to individuals who have been newly diagnosed with breast cancer, with hopes of making treatment a little easier. A first within the region, each of the chemotherapy, radiation and surgical kits contain everything needed to make survivors more comfortable, and the personal touch of a hand-written note from a Project Pink’d survivor is sure to brighten their day. From 2019-2020, Project Pink’d provided over 1,489 kits to hospitals throughout Western Iowa and Eastern Nebraska. Breast cancer survivors are faced with many unknowns throughout their treatment journey. While each mode of medical treatment is different and uncharted territory for the patient, Project Pink’d, Inc. wants survivors who are going through the battle to know they are not alone.

Mills County Public Health was awarded $13,500 for their Wits Workout Curriculum, a brain health program developed by the University of Illinois Extension. Drawing on brain health and aging research, the Wits Workout program focuses on brain exercises for all adults ages 50 and older. The interactive program provides increased socialization and promotes intellectual engagement, all of which complement current aging brain health research.

Senior Futures, Inc. received $5,000 to support the purchase of lawn and snow removal equipment to be used when providing services for low-income senior citizens in Harrison and Pottawattamie counties. The mission of Senior Futures, Inc. is to provide a multitude of services to the elderly and disadvantaged, including but not limited to: health services, home maintenance, repairs and chore services, transportation and escort services, and telephone reassurance services.